Blake Masters (author)

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For the screenwriter, see Blake Masters.
Blake Masters
Blake Masters by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Masters in 2021
Born (1986-08-05) August 5, 1986 (age 35)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
EducationStanford University (BA, JD)
Occupation
  • Venture capitalist
  • Author
EmployerThiel Foundation
Known forZero to One
Political partyRepublican
Children3

Blake Masters (born August 5, 1986) is an American venture capitalist, author, and president of the Thiel Foundation. Masters co-wrote Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future with Peter Thiel in 2014, based on notes Masters had taken at several classes taught by Thiel at Stanford Law School in 2012.

Early life[]

Masters was born in 1986 and grew up in Tucson, Arizona.[1]

Career[]

Masters clerked for a United States attorney for four months in 2010.[2][3] He attended Stanford Law School where he first met Peter Thiel in January 2011, they exchanged emails with each other a year later and Thiel invited Masters to attend a class he'd be teaching in spring 2012. Masters would post detailed notes from Thiel's lectures on a blog which grew popular within the tech community.[4] Renditions of Masters's notes reappeared online, prompting Masters to get in contact with Thiel about compiling them into a book.[4] Zero to One was released in September 2014 and received warm reviews from The Atlantic and Publishers Weekly.[5][6] According to Politico, the book portrayed "globalization as the enemy of innovation."[7] Masters was included on Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2014.[8]

Masters co-founded Judicata, a legal research service, in 2013. The website officially launched in 2017, though Masters left the project in 2014.[9] The website was acquired by Fastcase in 2020.[10]

Masters was chosen by Thiel, among other employees of his, to help serve on the presidential transition of Donald Trump in November 2016.[11][12] In October 2019, Masters suggested he'd launch a primary challenge against Republican U.S. Senator Martha McSally, expressing concern McSally was not a good candidate, citing the 2018 United States Senate election in Arizona, which Masters said was a "winnable" race.[13] In January 2020, Masters said he would not run.[14]

2022 Senate race[]

Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in Arizona

In April 2021 Masters reappeared as a potential candidate in the 2022 United States Senate election in Arizona, having been donated $10 million dollars by Thiel in the run-up to a potential bid to challenge incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly.[15] Thiel had several weeks earlier donated the same amount of money to the campaign of J. D. Vance, a candidate for Senate in Ohio and a fellow Thiel mentee.[15] The twin contributions were the most for singular Senate candidates on record at that point, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.[7]

Masters officially entered the race on July 12, 2021.[16] Promoting himself as "an America first conservative" and ally of former President Donald Trump,[12][17] Masters announced his opposition to H-1B visas and Big Tech, as well as his support for the 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit.[17] Masters has sown doubt about the results of the 2020 presidential election. He claimed it was uncertain who won the presidential election, claiming there were concerns about the election.[18]

Personal life[]

Masters is married and has three sons.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ Schleifer, Theodore (October 2, 2019). "One of Peter Thiel's closest aides might run for the US Senate". Vox. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  2. ^ Brandom, Russell (April 26, 2021). "Peter Thiel is spending $10 million to back a business partner's Senate bid". The Verge. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Drucker, David M. (April 16, 2021). "Republican associate of Peter Thiel eyeing Arizona Senate race". Washington Examiner. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Gallagher, Billy (September 16, 2014). "Zero to One: How Blake Masters went from being Peter Thiel's student to co-author". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  5. ^ Thompson, Derek (September 25, 2014). "Peter Thiel's Zero to One Might Be the Best Business Book I've Read". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future". Publishers Weekly. August 11, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Isenstadt, Alex (May 17, 2021). "Rise of a megadonor: Thiel makes a play for the Senate". Politico. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  8. ^ Dill, Kathryn (November 5, 2014). "30 Under 30: Political Animals". Forbes. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  9. ^ Ambrogi, Robert (May 3, 2017). "After Five Years in Stealth Mode, Judicata Reveals Its Legal Research Service". LawSites. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  10. ^ Hudgins, Victoria (September 3, 2020). "Fastcase Acquires Judicata as it Eyes Expanding Further Beyond Legal Research". Law.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  11. ^ Dwoskin, Elizabeth (November 28, 2016). "Peter Thiel seeks Silicon Valley insiders who will help Trump". The Washington Post. The Gazette. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Drucker, David M. (July 12, 2021). "'The president is smarter than that': How Blake Masters plans to woo Trump's endorsement in Arizona Senate race". Washington Examiner. Yahoo! News. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  13. ^ Sanchez, Yvonne Wingett (October 2, 2019). "Sen. Martha McSally may get another Republican primary challenger". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Sanchez, Yvonne Wingett (January 2, 2020). "Potential McSally primary challenger decides against 2020 Senate race". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Isenstadt, Alex (April 26, 2021). "Peter Thiel makes $10M bet on associate in Arizona Senate race". Politico. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  16. ^ Sanchez, Yvonne Wingett (July 12, 2021). "Blake Masters enters GOP Senate race, saying age, political experience 'overrated'". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b c Cooper, Jonathan J. (July 12, 2021). "Blake Masters launches GOP run against Sen. Kelly of Arizona". Associated Press. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  18. ^ Alex Rogers and Michael Warren (17 July 2021). "2020 election becomes early dividing line for Republicans in crucial 2022 Senate race in Arizona". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
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